


Somewhere, Even Now

by InsomniaAndTea



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-10
Updated: 2013-08-10
Packaged: 2017-12-23 00:19:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/919761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsomniaAndTea/pseuds/InsomniaAndTea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now I'm thinking that maybe, they met by the sea. Or in grade school. Or maybe at a coffee shop. But that never was right, now was it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somewhere, Even Now

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers up through episode 27, 'First Date'.

Carlos was a scientist. He lived on his own, in a quiet town on the coast. He liked taking walks along the boardwalk and watching the waves roll in.

He performed many experiments with his lab full of strange humming electrical equipment and breakers. These experiments were not too terribly odd, not outstanding or particularly impressive, but entirely necessary.

Every Wednesday he would eat a slice of pizza at a local pizzeria. It was very popular. Everyone seemed to eat there at least once a week.

And every evening he would turn on the radio and listen to-

Carlos frowned. The radio was simply playing static. He knew there was a channel that he listened to every night. He could remember a smooth, sonorous voice that lovingly described-

But that had never happened, had it?

Not here, at least.

Carlos clutched his head as the static emitting from the radio rose in volume until it was overwhelming. It felt like it was crawling into his head, burrowing into his brain, until he could think no longer and everything was static-  
\---

Carlos was a scientist. He lived on his own, in a quiet town on the coast. He liked taking walks along the boardwalk and watching the waves roll in. After all, that was where he had found the merman.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t want to swim with me?” the merman asked.

Carlos shook his head. “I don’t swim very well,” he confessed. 

“I wouldn’t let you drown,” the merman said, whose name was Cecil. “I would hate it if I couldn’t see your perfect hair waving in the wind, or your teeth like a military cemetery smiling down at me.”

Carlos laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Still. Water isn’t my favorite thing. The ocean is a bit scary, to be honest. I think I prefer mountains, or the desert.”

“Mountains don’t exist,” Cecil said. “And the ocean is just a desert with its life underground and the perfect disguise above.”

Carlos smiled. “Aren’t there mountains underwater?” he said. “They’re very deep down, but I’ve heard they’re there.”

“Oh, why would I ever go too deep down?” Cecil said dismissively. “I have no desire to disturb the Old Ones. After all, they get so upset if you wake them early! And the deeper you go, the darker it gets. The water crushes down around you, and all you can see is the black void.”

“Wow,” Carlos said, sitting down on the boardwalk. “That’s… fascinating.”

Cecil smiled, showing off his very sharp teeth. “I could show you.”

“I can’t breathe underwater,” Carlos said.

“I won’t let you drown,” Cecil said. 

Carlos looked about. There was no one on the boardwalk. Hesitantly, he removed his lab coat and his shirt.

Cecil flicked his tail, agitatedly slapping it on the top of the water. “Your chest looks wrong,” he said.

“What?” Carlos asked, looking at his chest. It was perfectly normal, not particularly muscular or hairy.

Cecil grabbed the edge of the boardwalk and pulled himself up enough to brush a hand over Carlos’ chest, tracing a rib until he felt a heartbeat. “I was holding a trophy,” he said dimly. “I… I was crying…”

“Cecil?” Carlos said timidly. He felt a deep ache in his bones, and the sea was moving faster, the waves picking up.

“Carlos,” Cecil said, eyes distant, “Did you always live here?”

“I don’t remember,” Carlos said. He stared out over the ocean, watching a giant wave head for the boardwalk.

“Carlos!” Cecil yelled as the wave crashed over the both of them.  
\--

“Carlos?” Cecil asked timidly.

Carlos blinked, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, what?” he said. “I must have spaced out.”

“It’s alright,” Cecil said, fidgeting. “I, um, I finished up the experiment.”

Carlos looked around the classroom in surprise. Most of the other students are still trying to finish the assigned classwork, nervously fiddling with wires as they attempt to make their motors run without shocking themselves.

“Thanks,” Carlos said vaguely. “Did Miss Josie give us any homework?”

Cecil shook his head. “Football season, remember? She likes to give us some time off. Less stress for the players and it leaves us time to go to the games.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Carlos said. 

“Um, do you still want to talk to her about setting up that Science Olympiad team?” Cecil asked, voice squeaking a little bit.

“Of course I do!” Carlos exclaimed. 

Cecil laughed. “Haha, wow, you’re always so excited about science! It makes me kind of interested in science too.”

“Why wouldn’t you be interested in science already?” Carlos said. “There’s so many interesting things out there. I mean, did you know that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean?”

“Wow, we actually know things about the moon?” Cecil said. He caught sight of Carlos’ expression and hurried to explain. “It’s just so far away. I mean, how do we get information about it?”

Before Carlos could launch into an enthusiastic explanation about the space program, Miss Josie clapped her hands, drawing the class’ attention.

“Time to pack up!” she called. “Five minutes ‘til the final bell. Remember to watch out for that old lead pipe in the back of the classroom. Don’t want any of you catching lead poisoning, like poor Erika did.”

There was a series of quick, furtive movement as all of the students attempted to silently ask each other which Erika Miss Josie meant. While she was an excellent teacher, she called all of her old students Erika which made her stories both confusing and very interesting.

Carlos shook his head fondly. Miss Josie was a strange old lady, but he liked her. He started cleaning up the various wires and electrical devices that covered their lab table, Cecil doing the same thing on the other side. As Carlos reached out to grab a battery, Cecil accidentally brushed his hand. He jerked back, face flushing.

“You ok?” Carlos asked.

Cecil nodded furiously. “Just, um. Shocked! By the-“ he waved his hand at the implements on the table.

“Alright,” Carlos said. “Do you want to stop by the library with me after class? I could help you find a book on the moon.”

Cecil frowned. “The… library? But what about the librarians?”

“What about them?” Carlos asked.

“Aren’t they, um,” Cecil screwed his eyes closed, trying to think. “They’re… arrgh, they’re not very nice,” he said. “I can’t quite…”

The PA system crackled to life, but all that could be heard was static.

“Librarians aren’t that bad?” Carlos said hesitantly. “You just… need to…” he blinked. “Do we have pellet dispensers in the library?”

“No,” Cecil said, raising his voice to be heard over the PA system, which was now spitting static with vengeance, “We don’t have those in the library, and there aren’t any trees there either.”

“But it has doors,” Carlos said. “Which isn’t right, is it?”

Cecil and Carlos stared at each other.

“Shouldn’t you be doing the announcements?” Carlos said with confusion. 

“You shouldn’t be this young,” Cecil said with urgency in his voice. “Your hair isn’t gray at all. Quick, what day is it?”

“What?” Carlos yelled as the static reached a deafening crescendo. 

“Don’t forget-“ Cecil screamed, but the rest was drowned out.  
\--

“Don’t forget the whipped cream!” Cecil chirped happily.

Carlos snapped to attention. “Like I would forget what my favorite customer likes,” he said teasingly. He carefully added in the milk to the concoction in front of him. He liked making coffee. He liked the exacting measurements, the sort of science that went into it.

“I’m your favorite customer?” Cecil asked.

“Mm?” Carlos looked up from making the drink, distracted from his thoughts of coffee science. “Oh, well, you’re a regular here and you never make any trouble, so… I guess so?”

Cecil smiled, a slight flush lighting up his face. “Neat!” he exclaimed.

Carlos smiled. “All right, here you go. One extra strong coffee, with just a bit of milk and sugar, topped with whipped cream and caramel. That good enough to help you stay up tonight?”

“Oh, of course it is!” Cecil said happily. “Will you be listening in tonight? I’m having a guest tonight. His name is Steve Carlsberg. He’s a bit of an asshole, to be honest.”

“Tough customer to interview?” Carlos said.

Cecil rolled his eyes, all three of them. “Like you wouldn’t believe. Can you believe he asked me if I blamed the government for these mutations? Honestly! How rude of him.”

“Well, to be fair, they didn’t exactly dispose of their irradiated materials correctly,” Carlos pointed out, cleaning the countertop with a rag. “I mean, what, half the town can’t even feel pain any more? I’ll bet that causes some serious problem with quality of life.”

“One person wrote in to tell us that since they couldn’t feel pain any more, they couldn’t quite get off to their carpal tunnel syndrome anymore,” Cecil confided, taking a sip of his coffee. “We couldn’t air that, of course, but still.”

Carlos shook his head. “Ah, the wonders of the human mind.”

The shop bell tinkled.

“Welcome to Leland’s Coffee, can I help-“ Carlos began. He frowned. “Oh, no,” he said tiredly.

Cecil turned around to see a young, vaguely Slavic man standing in the doorway, wearing a very stylish scarf and fringed leather vest. On his head sat a very odd, plastic-y looking headdress, such as one might find in a racist cartoon about Native Americans.

“You!” he thundered.

“Cecil,” Carlos said pleadingly, leaning over the counter to snatch at Cecil’s shirt, “Don’t. Please don’t-“

“Would you take off that ridiculous headdress?” Cecil snapped, glaring at the young man who stood in the doorway. “It is completely offensive-“

“Dude, would you chill?” the other man snapped. “Look, it’s completely ironic-“

“Ironic?” Cecil screeched. “How-“

“Free banana bread on the house if you two shut up right now!” Carlos snapped.

“Oh, no thanks, wheat’s totally out right now,” the man in the doorway said. “Have you tried John Peters invisible crop? Totally organic and awesome.”

“Wait, why is wheat out?” Carlos asked. “I haven’t heard anything like that.”

“Wheat and wheat by-products shouldn’t be consumed right now,” Cecil said immediately. “As suggested by the Sheriff’s… secret… police…”

“We don’t have a Sheriff,” Carlos said uncertainly. “What’s wrong with wheat?”

Everyone in the shop turned to look at the bakery display case.

“Snakes,” Cecil said vaguely.

“But they’re all… fine?” Carlos said. The machines behind him had begun whistling loudly, but he did not pay any attention to them.

“The Sheriff’s Secret Police,” Cecil said quietly, “They have helicopters. Today is Monday, but they weren’t flying in the shape of Nordic runes.”

“What?” Carlos asked. “Cecil, you aren’t making any-“

“Carlos, what color helicopters did you see today?” Cecil interrupted.

“Black,” Carlos said immediately. “What does that have-“ he stopped. “I didn’t see any helicopters today,” he said, frowning. “We’re a small desert community. We don’t need helicopters.”

“And the irradiated materials created the metal trees,” Cecil said, eyes unfocused. “That we, here, never got rid of, so we’re a no fly zone, which makes it hard for those who started levitating, like the hooded figures can do.”

“Hooded…?” Carlos began. The machines behind him were whistling in a way that sounded extremely dangerous, but he didn’t care. “Cecil?” he asked unsteadily.

Cecil nodded decisively. “Don’t forget, Carlos,” he said. 

The machines exploded and the world slipped away from Carlos.  
\--

“Do you miss him?’ Mayor Winchell asked.

“What?” Carlos said. He shoved the microphone away from his face, tiredly rubbing his eyes as the weather softly drifted out of his headphones.

“Our former Voice,” Mayor Winchell said. 

Carlos sighed. “Yes,” he said.

“You are doing well,” the Mayor said, slipping into the seat next to him. “You hardly needed any city mandated re-education. Even the eye looks good on you.”

Carlos touched his chest, by now used to the fluttering feeling of the eye in his chest blinking underneath his shirt. A solitary tattoo crawled over his hand, a hypercube.

“It looked better on him,” he said. “I think his tattoos miss him. Most of them didn’t even stay with me after he… saved me.”

The Mayor shrugged. “Tattoos are very personal things, you know. Once they form a bond with a person they have a hard time developing new ones. These are probably staying with you out of respect for him. That, and they know you’ll need help. He only wanted the best for you.”

Carlos shrugged. “I’m not sure being a radio host is the best thing for me,” he said. “I miss having time for science. And to be honest, Cecil was just so much better at keeping up with everything that was happening. I feel like I never know what to say or do.”

Mayor Winchell smiled thinly. “Just continue on as you have.”

“Fair enough,” Carlos said as the weather came to an end. He picked up the microphone and smashed it against the desk. An overpowering squeal of feedback rang through the studio.

“I will never forget the lights above the Arby’s,” he said to the Mayor, who was screaming in pain. “You can’t understand them alone, after all.”  
\--

Carlos sat in a truck bed and stared up at the sky. Just beyond the Arby’s sign he could see lights, glowing in the sky. On its way out of town, a ghost car raced by.

Someone approached, shuffling their feet. “Carlos?” they said timidly. “You’re- you’re not dead?”

“Are you finally ready to talk to me face to face about what you want?” Carlos said, not looking down.

They hopped up onto the truck bed next to him. “I hadn’t expected you to catch on so quickly,” they admitted.

“Well, you’re voice isn’t at all like his,” Carlos said. He looked at the man sitting next to him. “And there’s something about your eyes.” He did not add that this man was significantly better dressed than Cecil as well, because Carlos found Cecil’s furry pants and tunics oddly endearing.

The other man shrugged. “Minds can overlook things, you know. But I suppose your brain is so very extraordinary. That’s why we tried this, after all. Extraordinary brains are such rare things.” He stuck out his hand. “Kevin.”

Carlos nodded absently, ignoring the handshake. “There were black helicopters over the town this morning, weren’t there? Cecil always warns me about those.”

Kevin laughed, withdrawing his hand. “Yes, our friend does give such good advice. Would you like to give him a hug from me, when you go back?”

“I get to go back?” Carlos said.

“Of course!” Kevin exclaimed, black eyes gleaming. “It was wonderful to get to meet you, and the other folks who were caught up in all of this, but once you come to understand the difference between the void and the dream there isn’t much point in continuing. Besides, Intern Vanessa, or maybe her double, is reminding me that I have a show to do in half an hour. As much as I enjoy helping our wonderful Stryx Corp. with their new inventions, I do have a responsibility to my community!”

Carlos nodded. “I think that I do, too.”

Kevin raised his eyebrows, looking Carlos over. “One year and you’re already so attached. Well! Ah, well, this wasn’t a complete loss. Even if a very resourceful young lady did manage to help that handsome gentleman in the tan jacket escape, he still proved to have valuable information for the scientific community and Stryx Corp. Memory manipulation is fascinating, isn’t it?”

Carlos shrugged. “Not my area of study, thanks,” he said coolly. “But if this happens again, I’m certain I could become an expert quite quickly.”

Kevin laughed. “Oh, you kidder, you. Remember, Stryx Corp. is always looking for talented individuals, and Desert Bluffs would always be happy to have you.”

Carlos hummed noncommittally as the Arby’s sign began to buzz angrily and then burst into a shower of sparks.  
\--

He opened his eyes to find Cecil hovering over him, his two eyes watery and worried.

“Carlos!” Cecil exclaimed.

“Hey,” Carlos said raspingly, sitting up. “You ok?”

“I should be asking you that!” Cecil said. “I mean, the entire town was under there for a while, but since no one died it’s really not that important. But then the old woman without a face who lives in your house called me and said that you still weren’t awake, and, well, I just was worried.”

“Oh?” Carlos said dimly. “Hunh. Thank you, miss,” he said to the room in general, and was rewarded by a faint sense of approval. “I’m fine, Cecil,” he said, trying to test his reflexes on his own to verify. “Just thirsty, I think.”

Cecil held out a glass of water. “I… might of planned to throw that on you if you weren’t going to wake up,” he explained awkwardly.

Carlos smiled and kissed his cheek. “Good plan.”

“Uh-huh,” Cecil said, staring at Carlos. His mouth was suspiciously wobbly, and tears were building up in his eyes.

“You can hug me,” Carlos said, and immediately had to juggle the water glass so as to not spill any on Cecil, who was now firmly latched around his middle.

“I thought you were gone again,” Cecil said.

Carlos gently stroked Cecil’s head. “Why would I ever want to leave?” he said fondly.

**Author's Note:**

> From the kink meme:
> 
> Perhaps Carlos is a barista and Cecil has a crush on him. Perhaps they're both in high school. Perhaps they meet at a podcasting seminar. They have quirky friends, normal little problems, fall in love...
> 
> ...except that this mundane, normal, sweet little world they live in is a dream, or an illusion, or an illusory dream, and while they are having cute lives and falling in love, something horrible is happening to Night Vale.
> 
>  
> 
> If any of these AU ideas appeal to you, feel free to take them and expand on them.


End file.
